Data communication hardware often contains circuitry that processes data at high speeds. As an example, typical speeds for logic circuits in fast Infrared (FIR) hardware is 48 MHz. The faster a device operates, generally the more power the device consumes. Power is consumed whenever the data communication device is turned on and it is receiving data, transmitting data, processing data, or only listening for the occurrence of a data signal. It is necessary for the device to operate at high speed when it is in receive, transmit, or process mode. However, when in listen mode, a great deal of power can be lost waiting for a signal that may never occur.
Previous solutions to the problem of power consumption during listen mode have been to either run at lower speeds as is found in Serial Infrared (SIR) devices or to require the operator to manually place the device in listen mode before data is received. Both of these solutions extract a penalty and are counter productive. Operating at lower speeds results slower data processing which may be unacceptable. Requiring operator intervention adds to the operator's workload and may result in lost data if the operator fails to place the device in listen mode at the appropriate time. Also, power will be consumed unnecessarily, if the operator fails to take the device out of listen mode at the appropriate time.
Thus, there is a need for systems in which communication devices operate in a low power listen mode that automatically switches to high speeds during receive, process, and transmit modes, and which automatically switch back to the low power listen mode when not receiving, processing, or transmitting.